Thursday, June 4, 2009

WEEK 9

Alajuela, Costa Rica
- a taxi picks us up from the hostel early in the morning, and Ruby and I head to Rivas to the Tica "bus station" ... turns out it´s just a (closed) ticket office on a street ... luckily we´re able to flag the bus down when we see it, and we´re on our way to Costa Rica
- we board the bus, and head for our assigned seats ... and the person sitting directly across from us is none other than Alyson! That was a happy coincidence! We chatted, and caught up, and hung out at the border crossing ... it definitely helped pass the time of the long bus trip. Alyson was heading to San Jose for the last couple of days of her trip, before flying home to Toronto
- the border crossing into Costa Rica was a fairly painless waiting game ... then again, crossing borders with Tica Bus seems to always go smoothly
- a few hours later, Ruby and I get off the bus near the airport, well short of San Jose ... we catch a cab to get us into the proper residential area of Alajuela, and then it´s up to Ruby to try to remember where the house is that she lived in for a few months, three years ago
- memory kicks in, and the taxi drops us off in front of a quite, pretty bungalow, closed to the public by means of a metal gate (we´re in a NICE neighbourhood, but every single house has a metal gate to the sidewalk, and the front and back doors are metal barred too)
- Ruby´s host mom isn´t home at first, but she shows up in just a matter of minutes, getting dropped off by a friend (she´s been shopping in preparation for her flight to the U.S. tomorrow)
- so I get to meet Wilma ... a tiny older woman, full of life ... loves to talk ... English or Spanish ... LOVES to say "come on, give me a break" ... very nice person, very entertaining, very hospitable
- big hug for Ruby, and a lot of catching up, but Wilma also welcomes me into her home with open arms, and immediately makes me feel comfortable
- Wilma´s son, Herman, drops by ... he also knows Ruby ... and we all get into his car so Wilma can run a couple more pre-trip errands ... we wind up at a very modern mall, which is always fun to walk-through and compare to back home ... always similar, but always different ... Ruby and I are also able to hit an ATM here, to get some local Colones
- Herman drops us all off back at the house, and Wilma starts preparing a home cooked meal for us (quite the treat when backpacking!) ... meanwhile, Ruby and I walk around her old "hood", hitting a store for some drinks and snacks, and visiting another host family that Ruby knew
- dinner was delicious, and Wilma seemed very happy to not only have company in the house, but people to drink with! Her beverage of choice was something very much like a bloody mary ... at one point, she complained that I only bought myself one beer - completely neglecting the fact that I bought a JUMBO (1 litre) bottle, making it roughly the size of 3 normal beers!
- the evening conversation was fun, and eventually Wilma started throwing brain teasers our way ... her best trick was to take five half-broken toothpicks and "magically" turn them into a 5 pointed star (without every touching them)
- eventually, it was time for bed ... I´m not sure if Wilma´s dog usually sleeps in the bed I was given, but my allergies kicked in big time that night ... I had a lot of trouble breathing, and I had to wait for an allergy pill to take effect before I could finally fall asleep
- the next morning, Wilma made us breakfast, and then she got ready to head to the airport ... her cleaning lady was at the house, so we were able to stay even after Wilma left
- so hugs and "come back any time" invitations later, Wilma was off to the airport, and Ruby and I were off to catch a bus to visit the Spanish school that Ruby had attended during her previous stay in Costa Rica
- the school was pretty impressive ... on top of a hill, building after building set up to run small independent classes ... almost all of them outdoors ... everything was pretty - the buildings, the pathways, the plants and flowers and other flora ... it looked like a great place to learn Spanish! The people were also extremely friendly ... many of them remembered Ruby, so she had a great visit
- once we´d said our goodbyes, we headed back to the house and grabbed our bags ... we then caught a taxi to the bus station in San Jose ... it was time to get back to the Caribbean coast ... next stop, Puerto Viejo!

Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
- the bus ride is fairly comfortable, but it takes several hours to drive through jungle and forest and coast line ... we wind up arriving in Puerto Viejo after the sun has long disappeared
- somehow during the bus ride, Ruby has managed to meet and befriend the only other African-American female in all of Central America travelling by herself ... her name is Donna, she is from Philly, and she´s suddenly "with" us ... hi Donna, nice to meet you (I think)
- so first order of business is to try to find a place to stay ... I noticed a decent looking place near to where the bus dropped us off, so we poke our heads in to see what they have available ... they have a four-bed room at a good price ... BUT ... Ruby remembers this really cool hostel from when she was in Costa Rica before, and she wants to check that place out first
- so we start walking down the main road, through the heart of Puerto Viejo ... many restaurants and bars ... most of them with some sort of Rastafarian feel to them ... in a lot of ways, the entire town seems like a tribute to Bob Marley ... people joke that it´s easier to get marijuana in PV than it is to get drinking water! (and Donna can attest to this, as it took her about 30 seconds of "hunting" to come back happy)
- we keep walking, and the bars and restaurants disappear, and the road becomes empty and dark (and full of pot holes) ... and then it starts to rain ... and then it starts to POUR ... hey Ruby, just how far away is this place we´re looking for??
- Ruby thinks it´s just around the corner, for about 10 corners in a row ... coupled with a fear that maybe it doesn´t even exist anymore ... but eventually (read soaked to the bone, with our backpacks on our shoulders), we find the place ... and I have to admit, Rocking Jay´s gives off a pretty cool vibe ... it´s huge and colourful, with a bar and a restaurant, and many backpackers around (probably because town is too far away) ... we check out the room they have available for 3 people, and it´s a very small room with a couple of bunk beds and no space for anything else
- so we decide to go back to the first place we looked at, but at least Ruby is happy to have found Rocking Jay´s ... we decide to catch a taxi back to town :)
- we dump off our bags (nothing seems horribly wet), and head out to find food ... we asked the hotel manager where a good place is for good local food, and he sends us down a dark ally away from the action on the main street
- a couple of blocks later, we wind up at this tiny little restaurant that happens to be packed with people ... I get the stewed chicken with rice&beans, and it´s pretty delicious ... similar to the same dish in Belize, but different enough
- after dinner, we head to one of the reggae bars for a drink ... Ruby gets a Smirnoff Ice, I get a local beer (Imperial I´m sure), and Donna gets ... a shot of tequila with a beer chaser! Oh-oh, who IS this chick??
- Donna pounds back her shot, sips some beer, then goes off looking for weed ... as previously mentioned, she returns minutes later - mission accomplished (again with the oh-oh)
- we finish our drinks, and have determined that the reggae bar across the street has a better crowd and better music ... so we head there
- turns out there is an amazing live band playing, so we find seats and enjoy the show ... Donna disappears after a while, and next time we see her, she´s swaying to the music, right in front of the band! Well that isn´t necessarily an oh-oh sign ... maybe she´s just cool like that
- the band finishes its set, and Ruby and I decide to call it a night ... Donna decides to come back to the hostel with us ... when we get there, Donna discovers it´s not crazy late, so she decides to head back out to party more ... but before she leaves, so gives a monologue about how she loves natural light and blah blah blah ... next thing you know, we have a candle lighting the room, and incense stinking the place up!!! (mmmm, black coconut, my favourite)
- forget oh-oh´s ... this chick is straight up crazy! Turns out she´s a 40-something grandmother who parties like she´s 22 ... oh and did I mention that when she first got on the bus, I was 90% positive she was a man in drag!??? ... bottom line is we were sharing a room with her - yay
- the rest of the night passes without event ... the next morning, Ruby and I head off to Rocking Jay´s ... for brunch and to look into the border crossing trip they offer that includes a boat ride to Bocos del Toro (in Panama)
- we get the information we need for the trip, and book for the following day ... the weather is a little too cloudy and grey to justify staying much longer in PV ... and Ruby is on that tight timeline anyway
- we get some fantastic lunch (I had ridiculously cheap and super yummy marlin), and then we find a table to play some cards (I´m teaching Ruby how to play Casino, Crazy 8´s Deluxe, Rummy 2000 and Golf ... trying Cribbage did not go well)
- we play a game, and Ruby suddenly gets up and says she needs to go back to the room to get something (more money perhaps) ... whatever her excuse was, it turns out the real reason is that it dawned on her that we´d left Donna alone (with all our stuff) for waaaaaay too long, so she was on a mission to make sure everythign was a-okay
- her timing was fairly spectacular ... she gets back to the hotel and the hotel manager informs her that Donna JUST left (as in took her bags and everything), and did NOT pay!!!
- Ruby heads towards the bus station, and quickly finds Donna ... playing it cool, she says something like, "Hey girlfriend, were you seriously going to take off without at least saying goodbye?" ... Donna panicks a bit, but tries to play it off cool, "Oh hi ... yah, I didn´t know where you guys were, so I left you a note ... I´m just going to head off with the guy I met ... we´re going to check out Panama for a couple of days, then come back" ... Ruby coyly asks, "Did you pay your share for the room?" ... and Donna is all like, "Oh, was I supposed to do that ... I guess I forgot ... how much was it again?" ... Ruby knows full well how much Donna owes, but she haven´t even had a chance to check our room (i.e. to see if the crazy chick stole anything), so she plays dumb, "I´m not sure exactly ... you better come back with me and we can ask the manager together."
- so both of them head back to the hotel, and Donna pays (Ruby gives the manager specific instructions not to let her leave again until Ruby has had time to give the room a once-over) ... turns out nothing seemed to be missing ... just a case of a crazy chick who was too stoned to remember to pay when she left on the spur of a moment
- MEANWHILE, I´m back at Rocking Jay´s, playing solitaire, oblivious to everything! Ruby comes back and fills me in on all the details ... I have to admit, it can be a good thing to travel with someone who grew up in the ghetto ... Ruby was all like, "I´m glad she didn´t steal anything, because I really didn´t want to have to kick her ass ... but I would have!"
- so bye bye Crazy Donna ... we play some more cards, eat dinner at Rocking Jay´s (yes, the food there is THAT good), try a couple of places for some evening entertainment (we didn´t see much, but we did watch this one young white guy try to walk home, but he was so messed up he kept falling down, and eventually had to take a nap on the sidewalk of the main street! Ruby actually walked up to him and took a picture!)
- overall, it was a quick but entertaining time in Puerto Viejo ... but the clock was ticking, and Panama was calling

Bocas del Toro, Panama
- next morning, a mini-bus picks us up in front of our hotel ... it´s just Ruby and myself for the entire journey (always nice to have a bus to yourself)
- the bus driver is friendly, and he tells us he makes this trip every single day ... the road is very bumpy (it actually isn´t much of a road at all)
- the ride to the border isn´t too long ... we get there, and the driver tells us we have to do our paperwork and work to the other side, where he´ll meet us with our bags and the van
- we get out of the van, and get into the immigration line that is both for entering and leaving Costa Rica ... the line isn´t too long, and it doesn´t take much time to get our departure stamps
- next, we have to walk into Panama, but to do so, we have to cross a wooden bridge that has HUGE holes in it ... you´re walking, and you´re basically a couple feet away from falling to your death ... definitely a memorable experience!
- we get across the bridge, and get in line for Panama immigration ... at this point the sun is beating down on us with full fury, and the line is NOT moving ... we must have stood there, melting, for well over an hour ... at least we didn´t have to lug our bags around
- eventually, we get to the front of the line, and it takes less than two minutes for us to both be processed ... go figure
- we get back in the van, and we take a fairly short drive to a boat/dock area ... apparently, this is the launch area to get to the islands of Bocas del Toro ... the area smells "wonderful" and it doesn´t take a genius to figure out why ... on the other side of the river, there are many houses, all with docks, all with toilets at the end of the dock (bottomless toilets) ... lovely
- we have to wait a bit for the boat to fill, but then we´re on our way to the town of Bocas del Toro, on the island Isla Colon
- the ride isn´t too rough, and about 45 minutes later, we arrive at Bocas del Toro
- right across the street from where we land, there is a hostel that´s been recommended to us at Rocking Jay´s ... Big Kahuna is kinda nice, but it seems too expensive for the price, so we decide to keep looking
- we wind up walking the entire length of the main street, and around the corner (at least it wasn´t pouring rain this time), to check out the ever popular Mondu Taitu - some treehouse-esque hostel ... winds up being the same price as the Big Kahuna, and it´s smaller and more cramped ... more than anything, you get the vibe that this place is party central
- so, we walk one block more ... to a no name hostel that nobody knows anything about (I think it´s actually called "The Hostel") ... and it´s clean, and cheap, and empty ... so we wind up getting a big dorm room and two bathrooms basically to ourselves! And we´re only a block away from party central. :)
- we get settled and then go out looking for an ATM ... we have to go down a quiet side street, but it happens to be where the fire and police stations are ... so we assume it´s all safe
- next, we go looking for some food ... it appears that we´ve had more than one meal of tuna and/or potato chips while blitzing through Costa Rica ... after having our eyes pop out at some very expensive seafood restaurants, we find a place that seems like a fast food cafeteria with an outdoor patio ... only the food is fairly decent (the pizza at least), and the hot sauce is fantastic (first time on the trip I´ve seen hot sauce made with scotch bonnet peppers)
- we go to a bar for a drink, and people on the street keep coming up to us to tell us about this huge vodka-themed party tonight ... at Mondu Taitu ... we walk by it on our way back to the hostel, and it´s so packed, people have to hang out and drink in front of the entance
- the vibe is a little too hardcore for our tastes, so we wind up hitting a grocery store for some drinks, and then we head to the Hostel to play cards
- and then the rain starts ... and then it comes down with full fury ... and it lasts for most of the night
- the next morning, we´re thinking about finding the good beach area, but before we can even get up and going, the rain returns ... the rain lasts all morning, and we give up on the idea of staying ... we only wanted sun and beach, and that´s obviously not in the equation ... so we pack up and check out ... and check a boat after having delicious and cheap Chinese food (again with really good hot sauce)
- our next destination takes us inland, away from the Caribbean coast (and hopefully the rain) ... off we set for Boquete

Boquete, Panama
- the boat ride is a bit bumpy because of the weather, but compared to the rest of the day, winds up being a pretty nice trip
- next, we get a taxi to a gas station, where we can apparently catch a bus to David (a city in Panama)
- turns out that pretty much every mini-bus that shows up for David is already full ... meaning we eventually have to settle for trying to make room when there isn´t any ... Ruby lucks out and gets a faux-seat facing another seat (i.e. their legs are overlapped to fit) ... and lucky me, I get to stand in the middle of the bus!
- better still, the top of the bus is about shoulder height, so I have to hunch over drastically ... and then there isn´t really anything to hold on to for support, AND it´s a very bumpy and windy road (we´re climbing through mountains for the most part)! lots of banging into the seated passengers ... but not a big deal, the ride is only THREE HOURS!!!
- about 30 minutes pass, and my neck is in agony ... one person gets off the bus, and I´m waved do to share the door platform with the guy who collects the money ... so now I´m low enough that I can stand straight (yay), but I´m also facing an open door, with nothing more than an overhead handrail to keep me from spilling out to certain death (boo) ... did I mention this ride was on a very windy road? I quickly learned that the high speed turns to the right pushed me more inside the bus, so they were nothing to panic over ... but the high speed turns to the left basically put most of my body outside of the bus, and I was holding on for dear life!
- the first 15 to 30 minutes of this open door policy was possibly entertaining ... but eventually the muscles get sore and tired, not to mention my affinity for sleeping in all and any moving vehicles ... I really had to focus on the road ahead ... try to catch the road signs for which way the next curve would bend ... and then I´d have to turn my body accordingly, to minimize the centripetal force against me
- finally, with about half an hour left on the trip, the bus emptied a bit and I was able to get a seat ... hanging outside a bus might sound fun, but I wouldn´t recommend it beyond fifteen minutes
- we arrive in David, and there is a bit of a real city feel to it ... the bus station seems fairly substantial too
- the bus to Boquete leaves almost as soon as we arrive, so we aren´t in David for long
- the trip to Boquete only takes an hour and a half, but by the time we get there, it´s already dark
- luckily, the town is very small, so the hotel we´re looking for (even though it seems on the outskirts of town) is only a few blocks away
- we head to the Boquete Hotel, which is on a river, near a bridge ... quite pretty, and inviting ... it´s run by an American guy (also named David) who doesn´t seem to speak too much Spanish ... it would appear that Boquete is a town pretty much filled with ex-pats, especially from the U.S.
- the initial price of the room is pretty high, but we are able to haggle down to something we are comfortable with ... seems like since the rainy season has officially started, prices to rooms are much more negotiable
- once we´ve checked in, we go for a night walk around the town (David told us Boquete is the safety town in all of Panama ... nothing to worry about here) ... most of the action is on the main street, with bits of spill over on the various side streets ... it takes less than half an hour to feel like we´ve seen most of what there is to see ... overall, it´s a quiet and pretty town ... "quaint" seems like the perfect word
- we head to the restaurant with the checkerboard painted walls (again on David´s recommendation), and order a pizza (as that´s all they´re serving this time of night) ... the pizza turns out to be really yummy, and we even wind up having leftovers
- we head back to the hotel, and sit on the patio out back, facing the river ... serene, peaceful, calming ... Boquete is cooler temperatures than we´ve had in ages, but the vibe we´re getting is warm and good
- we play a couple games of cards, and then call it a night
- next day, the morning is sunny and beautiful ... we decide to check out the much adverstised hot springs of Caldera
- we start by taking a bus back towards David, but we get dropped off at an intersection with a bit of a bus shack (and a billboard for the hot springs)
- we wait about an hour for another bus to show, that takes us through the town of Caldera ... tiny town, but it´s FULL of activity ... this would be because today (Sunday) is the day of the presidential election in Panama ... and everyone is out voting! Oliver Murillo won in a landside, but it was still neat to be in a country during a presidential election ... even the supermarket wouldn´t sell alcohol on that day (nothing to do with it being a Sunday, entirely because of the election)
- towards the end of town, we get dropped off at a road that leads to the hot springs ... we figure it´s about a 10 minute walk, but it turns more into a substantial hike, through a gravel road, then over an aquaduct of sorts, then over a wooden bridge that is so broken up it makes the bridge we used to cross the border seem ridiculously safe (this bridge had entire planks missing, and then loose wood casually laid overtop), then up a big hill, then through some farm land, down some rocks, pass some ecological research field, and finally up to a couple of houses where you pay an entrance fee
- then once you´re "in", you discover that the much acclaimed hot springs are two tiny circles of stone, trapping water inside ... and the water happens to be hot! Huge disappointment ... the first spring was barely a foot deep ... the second one was bigger (jucuzzi sized), but only 3 feet deep maybe, and super hot, and kinda dirty
- our salvation was walking further down the path, to the river ... too much current and too many rocks to swim, but we were able to "wade" ... the water was cold and refreshing (especially after the hike getting there)
- we didn´t stay too long, but then again, we had to rush back to try to catch the last bus (4pm) back to the main road
- as we neared the bus stop, it started to rain ... then it started to rain cats and dogs ... already wet from the river and sweaty from the hike back, I stood out in the rain for a couple of minutes and pretty much had a shower
- shortly after, we catch the bus, and it drops as off back by the main road ... by now, the rain has let up, but we have to wait at least an hour for the bus back to Boquete
- we catch that bus, and by the time we arrive in town, it´s pouring rain again ... it´s a sprint to the store for food and then a sprint to the hotel ... avoiding the massive flash-flooded puddles on the roads
- it rains and rains and rains the rest of the day/night ... we have tuna and chips for dinner at the hotel, and we play cards for hours ... then we call it a night
- so it´s like 3am, the room is pitch dark, and I think I just randomly wake up for no particular reason ... a light breaks into the room, and it becomes apparent someone is opening our door!! I see the silhouette of someone short and dark and it occurs to me that maybe Ruby stepped out and is coming back in ... except when I glace over to her bed, she´s in it!! Great ... intruder with a key!!
- I say "Helloooo..." a few times ... maybe even "Holaaaaa..." (I was half asleep) ... eventually my voice wakes up Ruby and she says something more threatening ... the entire time, the person has been at the doorway ... suddenly, he says "oh", and backs up and closes the door
- Ruby gets up and locks the door and double locks it with the sliding lock I never knew we even had ... now we´re wide awake and wondering what the hell just happened
- then we hear a key opening the door to the room across from us, and a few minutes later we hear one of the girls inside say, "what the hell ... get out of here!!"
- turns out the guy just went into their bathroom and didn´t really do anything ... next morning we find out no one else had their door opened, and nothing was stolen or anything ... still, it was a pretty freaky night
- we were assured nothing like that had ever happened before, and security measures were taking place the next day, including changing to locks to the front gate
- however, the weather looked like it was going to rain again, and it was time for us to be heading on anyway ... so we packed up and checked out ... next stop, a beach on the Pacific coast!

Santa Clara, Panama
- we catch the bus back to the David bus station ... from there, we move to the swankier end of the terminal, where they have all the big buses from David to Panama City
- we get on the bus, watch a couple of bad movies, and travel the majority of the way to the capital
- about an hour before the city, we are let off at the side of the ride ... supposedly at the beach town of Santa Clara ... only, there is no beach in site
- turns out the beach is a decent hike down the road ... it´s mid-afternoon and the sun is hot ... and we don´t feel like hiking with our packs ... we´re told we can hail a mini-bus or a taxi, we just have to wait for one to come by
- about half an hour later, we flag down a mini-bus, and we get dropped off about 5 minutes later, right at the beach
- the beach is huge, the sand is ideal, the water looks inviting ... only problem is, there doesn´t seem to be much in the way of places to stay!
- the one hotel/restaurant that actually seems open only has rooms for 5 to 6 people, so the price is way out of our range ... then we find out it´s possible to rent hammocks under a canopy (right on the beach) for the night, for the cheap price of $3 per hammock
- we pay for our hammocks, and set up shop under our canopy ... overall, it really isn´t that bad ... but avoiding bugs is a bit of a challenge, and hammocks really aren´t all that comfortable for sleeping through an entire night
- even better, we have a new full moon in the sky, and there is some crazy huge halo around the moon, that seems to block out all stars and all clouds ... really neat to witness, but impossible to capture with Ruby´s camera
- we eat a so-so dinner at the first restaurant, and then head back to our hanging beds for the night
- things get fairly interesting when a couple drive up, park, and walk down to the water ... they are "hanging out" for AGES ... we try to ignore them and hope they don´t notice us
- eventually, the sun rises (at like 5:30 am), and that´s the end of any chance to sleep
- then again, the good news is that the sun is out ... the morning is gorgeous! We play some frisbee in the sand and go into the water ... unlike Nicaragua, the Pacific ocean is again warm and not full of gross grass and/or pollution
- we head back to our hammocks to laze, and the morning is going wonderfully ... and THEN some guy comes up to us and ruins all our fun, saying that we have to pay for the hammocks and canopy separately for the day, and it´s an additional $10 or $15 ... this does NOT sit well with us, and after much complaining, we pack up and catch a ride with a truck back up the road, stopping at a hostel called the Blue Dolphin
- the hostel is really nice, with a pool and a kitchen and the rooms have a/c ... the price they tell us is extreme, but we´re able to barter our way down to something in our price range ... the only problem is that the hostel is pretty far away from the beach
- so instead of the ocean, we wind up spending the rest of the day in and out of the pool
- we really enjoyed the hostel, and we could walk to a store for food and drinks, as well as a cheap local restaurant
- after a full day of sun, we got tuna, bread and booze for dinner ... and we drank and played cards until it was time for bed
- next day was more of the same - hanging by the pool ... but only for the morning ... we were able to do a late checkout, so after lunch, we packed up and headed up the road to once again catch the David-Panama City bus ... it´s the 6th of May, Ruby has to leave on the 8th, but there´s still a lot of party left in her ... Panama City, here we come!
- EoW

No comments:

Post a Comment